Sports shoe

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a sports shoe characterized in that an inner layer member or an inner shoe provided with a member possessing a form corresponding to the shape of foot is attached to the inside of the sports shoe, an air receiving cell is provided adjacent to said member, and said member is adapted to contact closely the foot under the pneumatic pressure caused by supplying air into the air receiving cell.

United States Patent 1191 Nishimura 1111 3,744,159 1451 July 10,1973

[ SPORTS SHOE [76] Inventor: Kazuyoshi Nishimura, No. 29,

IS-ban, 4-chome, Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 22 Filed: Sept. 7, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 178,117

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 20, 1971 Japan 46/15963 [52] US. Cl. 36/2.5 AL, 36/71 [51] Int. Cl A43b 19/00 [58] Field of Search 36/2.5 R, 2.5 AL, 36/71 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,774,152 12/1956 Alber 36/71 3,664,043 5/l972 Polumbus 36/7I FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS l,l45,907 10/1957 France 36/2.5 AL

Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson Attorney-Dawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lungmus [57] ABSTRACT The present invention relates to a sports shoe characterized in that an inner layer member or an inner shoe provided with a member possessing a form corresponding to the shape of foot is attached to the inside of the sports shoe, an air receiving cell is provided adjacent to said member, and said member is adapted to contact closely the foot under the pneumatic pressure caused by supplying air into the air receiving cell.

4 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures award PAIENIEB Jul '3 SPORTS SHOE The present invention relates to sports shoes. such as ski boots or the like ski shoes, or to sports shoes used for other sports than ski.

The present invention relates, more specifically, to inner shoe or inner layer member to be provided inside an upper of this kind of sports shoes.

Ski shoes having inner shoe or inner layer member are conventionally known.

The conventional ski boot or ski shoe is comprising an upper formed of substantially suitable materials such as leather or the like, a sole, and an inner layer member fixed to the inside of the upper or an inner shoe attached to the inside of the upper.

Said inner layer member or inner shoe comprises, for instance, a foamed material of synthetic rubber or a modified material consisting of said foamed material covered with leather or the like, and is provided with an inner peripheral wall which fits the instep or other corresponding portions of the wearers foot.

However, this kind of ski boot or ski shoe is unable to fit closely the wearers instep or other corresponding portions which vary considerably among individuals. Accordingly, such ski boot or ski shoe, when worn for a long period of time, will often fatigue and injure the wearers foot.

Further, as such ski boot or ski shoe does not support the foot sufficiently, it will hamper smooth skiing at ski competitions and others.

Also, there is conventionally provided a ski boot or ski shoe of which the construction is being modified from that of the conventional inner shoe as mentioned above, that is, a sealed bag member is formed within an inner shoe and a liquid or pasty unfoamed foamable synthetic resin material is poured into the bag member.

In using this type of ski boot or ski shoe, the wearers foot is first inserted into the inner shoe, and then the liquid or pasty unfoamed foamable synthetic resin material is poured into the sealed bag member.

However, said synthetic resin material filled into the bag member will not reach evenly every part of the space defined between the wearers foot and the inner peripheral face of the ski boot or ski shoe, and, further, due to the pressure caused in the said space the wearers foot is liable to move inside the sport shoe. Consequently, it is difficult to position correctly the wearers foot at the required position inside the shoe and hold said position.

There is also such a disadvantage that polyurethane, which is generally used as the liquid or pasty foamable synthetic resin material to be poured into said bag member, generates a poisonous gas.

Further disadvantage is that the amount of the pasty foamable synthetic resin material to be poured into said bag member is relatively difficult to specify and that the handling of pouring means is not easy.

The object of the present invention is to obviate the disadvantages of the abovementioned well-known sports shoes by providing a sport shoe wherein a ventilative cushioning member (air containing layer) integrally formed of a substantially foot shaped instep and sole is provided within an inner layer member or an inner shoe of the sports shoe thereby supporting provisionally the wearers foot at the required position in the sports shoe, and an air receiving cell is provided adja: cent to said cushioning member in the inner layer member or the inner shoe of the sports shoe and, by means of the pressure supplied into the air receiving portion, the shape of an inner peripheral wall of the sports shoe which is in contact with the instep of the wearers foot is corrected so as to correspond exactly to the instep of the wearers foot, and, by allowing the inner peripheral wall to fit the instep of the wearers foot and by pressing the instep with the inner peripheral wall, the wearers foot is substantially fixed at the required position in the sports shoe by the inner layer member or the inner shoe pressing the instep of the wearers foot.

I will hereinafter give explanation relative to a ski boot, however, it should be understood that the present invention is also applicable to the sports shoes other than the ski boot.

The main characteristic of the ski boot according to the present inventon is that an inner layer member or an inner shoe is comprising a ventilative cushioning member (air containing layer) and an air receiving cell.

Said ventilative cushioning member is formed of either a foamed material of natural or synthetic rubber or synthetic resin, or a felt material formed of a lot of fibrous layers, is integrally formed of a substantially foot shaped instep and sole, and is provided with an inner peripheral wall and an outer peripheral wall both having a concave and convex shape corresponding to the instep and sole of the wearers foot. Consequently, the inner peripheral wall of the inner layer member or the inner shoe should fit at least indirectly the instep and sole of the wearers foot.

An onefold bag member which seals up said cushioning member including said air receiving cell is formed of an unventilated material such as a non-foamable material of natural or synthetic rubber or synthetic resin, and comprises an inner peripheral cover an inner peripheral face of which being fixed integrally or by means of a binding agent to the inner peripheral wall of the cushioning member, and an outer peripheral cover.

Said air receiving cell is defined between the outer peripheral wall of said cushioning member and the outer peripheral cover of said bag member. And, an air supplying means is provided for said air receiving cell passing through an upper of the ski boot and said outer peripheral cover.

Said outer peripheral cover of the inner layer member is fixed to the inner peripheral face of the upper and sole of the ski boot either integrally or by means of a binding agent.

On the other hand, the inner shoe is attached to the inside of the upper and sole of the ski boot.

The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description given in connection with two embodiments by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 through FIG. 6 are pertaining to the inner shoe of the ski boot related to the 1st embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are partly sectioned views of the inner shoe formed in an opened-out shape;

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are partly sectioned views of the inner shoe formed in a boot shape;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken along the line VV;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIGS. 3 and 4 taken along the line VIVI;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ski boot related to the 2nd embodiment of the present invention wherein the inner layer member is fixed to the inner face of the ski boot;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the main part of the inner shoe attached to the inside of the upper and sole of the ski boot;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 9 showing a part of a modification of the ski boot (2nd embodiment) shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a partially sectioned perspective view of the ski boot related to the 1st embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a partially sectional perspective view of the ski boot related to the 2nd embodiment of the present invention.

The explanation pertaining to the 1st embodiment will be given hereinafter referring to FIGS. 1 through 6, FIG. 8 and FIG. 11.

The ski boot in this embodiment comprises an upper B of the boot, an inner shoe A attached removably to the inside of said upper B, and a sole C, and the state of attachment of the inner shoe to the ski boot is shown in FIG. 11.

Said inner shoe A is attached to the inside of the ski boot by first folding the opened-out shape inner shoe as shown in FIGS. 1 or 2 in such a way that both side portions a and b spaced apart from a central heel portion h are opposed to each other, and then inserting said folded piece into the upper and sole portion of the ski boot. The letter C in the figures represent an air supplying hole.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. and 6, numeral 1 represents the ventilative cushioning member possessing the inner peripheral wall 2 having the concave and convex shape corresponding to the instep shape of the wearers foot and the outer peripheral wall 3 indirectly opposing to the upper B, and said member 1 is either molded from the ventilative material containing suitable amount of air such as the foamed natural or synthetic rubber material, or the foamed synthetic resin material, or formed by some other method from the same material. Numeral 4 represents the inner sealed bag possessing the air supplying hole connected to the air supplying means above the heel portion h, and is either integrally molded from the unventilated material such as the non-foamy natural or synthetic rubber material, or the non-foamy synthetic resin material, or formed in airtight state with the same material. This bag 4 is made in the sealed form including said cushioning member I and the undermentioned air receiving cell 5 therein. The inner peripheral face 6 of the bag 4 is fixed to said inner peripheral wall 2 either integrally or by means of a binding agent (see FIG. 8).

The outer sealed bag 7 sealing said bag 4 by containing said bag in the inner portion thereof is possessing the air supplying hole which connects with the valved air supplying means.

The inner peripheral face 8 of said bag 7 is fixed to the inner peripheral face 6 of said bag 4 integrally either by means ofa binding agent or by welding, and the outer peripheral face 9 of said bag 7 is fixed to the outer peripheral face 10 of said bag 4 either integrally or by means of a binding agent.

The air receiving cell 5 is defined between the outer peripheral wall 3 of the cushioning member 1 and the outer peripheral face 10 of the inner sealed bag 4.

This cell 5 is connected with said member 1. When a desired amount of air is pumped into said cell by using a suitable means (not shown in the figures) such as a small pump or the like by way of the air supplying means and the air supplying hole, the cushioning member l or the air receiving cell 5 swells and presses the inner peripheral faces of both bags 4 and 7 as well as the inner peripheral wall of the cushioning member 1, that is, the inner peripheral wall of the inner shoe towards the instep of the wearers foot, thereby transforming said inner peripheral wall enabling it to contact closely the instep of the wearers foot.

In other words, the inner peripheral wall 2 of the cushioning member 1 formed so as to substantially correspond with the instep of the wearers foot transforms in conformity with the foot shape of each wearer the instep of which varies from person to person by the pneumatic pressure supplied into the air receiving cell 5, and fits exactly the inner peripheral wall of the inner shoe inside the ski boot, thus the wearers foot is held at the required position inside the ski boot for certain.

An inner peripheral face member 11 and an outer peripheral face member 12 of the outer sealed bag 7 can also be formed separately. The inner peripheral face member 11 is made of a pliable warmth keeping material such as felt or boa which improves the warmth keeping effect of the inner portion of the boot and relaxes the pressure from the air receiving cell in cooperation with the cushioning member 1. Further, the outer peripheral face member 12 reinforces the outer peripheral face of the inner shoe and prevents the inner shoe from getting damaged due to contact friction which will otherwise cause between the outer peripheral face of the inner shoe and the inner peripheral face of the upper of the ski boot.

Since said inner shoe can be attached to the inside of the ski boot removably, the inner shoe inside the ski boot is replaceable as required.

Further, the amount of air to be supplied to the air receiving cell by means of the air supplying means can be regulated to the desired amount, and the air contained in the air receiving cell can be withdrawn if necessary, thereby the pneumatic pressure inside the inner shoe can be adjusted.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the inner. shoe A is shaped gradually thin toward the toe portion so as to facilitate free movement of the wearers toe.

The detailed description and explanation of the 2nd embodiment will be given hereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 7 and any other relative figures, the

V the inner layer member A is made from the same qualof material as' said inner bag 4, and possessing an air supplying hole which is connected to an air supplying means. This bag 4' is formed in a sealed state containing said cushioning member 1' and undermentioned air receiving cell 5 therein. An inner peripheral face 6' of the bag 4 is fixed to the inner peripheral wall 2 of the cushioning member 1' either integrally or by means of a binding agent. Further, an outer peripheral face of the bag 4' is fixed to the inner peripheral wall of the upper B either integrally or by means of a binding agent. The air receiving cell 5 is defined between the outer peripheral wall 3' of the cushioning member 1' and the outer peripheral face of the inner sealed bag 4'. The cell 5' is connected with the member 1'.

An inner peripheral face member 11 and an outer peripheral face member 12 of the inner sealed bag 4' can also be formed separately.

A warmth keeping member 13 fixed to said inner peripheral face member 1 1 is made of a warmth keeping material such as felt or boa which improves the warmth keeping effect of the inner portion of the ski boot and relaxes the pressure from the air receiving cell in cooperation with the cushioning member 1'.

Since the upper B of the ski boot and the inner layer member A are joined together integrally in the 2nd embodiment, the wearers foot can be positioned most correctly at the required position in the upper and held thereat.

It is desirable to shape the inner layer member gradually thin toward its toe portion as the inner shoe in the 1st embodiment.

Also, as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to omit the outer peripheral face member 12' of the bag 4' of the inner layer member A in which instance the air supplying hole connected with the air supplying means can be provided at a required position on the upper B.

What I claim is:

l. A sport shoe having an upper and an inner layer member within the upper, the inner layer member including an air pervious cushioning member having an inner peripheral wall provided with a form corresponding to the shape of a foot, and an outer wall extending adjacent the cushioning member and spaced outwardly therefrom to provide an air cell therebetween, the outer wall being secured to the upper, and means for supplying air to the air cell.

2. A sport shoe having an upper and an inner shoe within the upper, the inner shoe comprising a cushioning member having an inner peripheral wall provided with a form corresponding to the shape of the foot, inner bag means enclosing the cushioning member and having an inner wall secured to the inner peripheral wall of the cushioning member and an outer wall sapced outwardly of the cushioning member to provide an air cell therebetween, and outer bag means enclosing the inner bag means.

3. The shoe of claim 2 in which the outer bag means includes an inner wall secured to the inner wall of the inner bag means and an outer wall secured to the outer wall of the inner bag means.

4. The shoe of claim 2 in which the cushioning member is air pervious. 

1. A sport shoe having an upper and an inner layer member within the upper, the inner layer member including an air pervious cushioning member having an inner peripheral wall provided with a form corresponding to the shape of a foot, and an outer wall extending adjacent the cushioning member and spaced outwardly therefrom to provide an air cell therebetween, the outer wall being secured to the upper, and means for supplying air to the air cell.
 2. A sport shoe having an upper and an inner shoe within the upper, the inner shoe comprising a cushioning member having an inner peripheral wall provided with a form corresponding to the shape of the foot, inner bag means enclosing the cushioning member and having an inner wall secured to the inner peripheral wall of the cushioning member and an outer wall spaced outwardly of the cushioning member to provide an air cell therebetween, and outer bag means enclosing the inner bag means.
 3. The shoe of claim 2 in which the outer bag means includes an inner wall secured to the inner wall of the inner bag means and an outer wall secured to the outer wall of the inner bag means.
 4. The shoe of claim 2 in which the cushioning member is air pervious. 